Distance and Time
by Nikki-TDI
Summary: Because they know they will be united by every force, whenever or wherever they are. Dawn/Kenny, Penguin Shipping. Enjoy, R&R!


Distance and Time

_Dawn looked around through Twinleaf, in search of her best friend Kenny. The nine-year-old couldn't wait to find him, for she had just discovered a great secret she had to tell him. Just as she passed by the boy's house, she stopped to see if he was there. The lights were all turned off and it seemed like the house was completely empty of any kind of life whatsoever. The girl did an exasperated sigh as she kept on walking down the streets. By the time she had finished the town tour, she still hadn't spotted Kenny anywhere, so she decided to get her bike and go to Lake Verity. As the girl propelled herself in the two-wheeled device, she wondered where might her friend be. Right now, she didn't want to share her secret any more, she just wanted to find him, wherever he was._

_When she arrived to Lake Verity, she left her bike by a tree and started walking to the lake. There, to her own relief, she found her friend's auburn hair. He was sitting on the fresh green grass, staring at the lake's beauty. He didn't notice Dawn's presence until she patted his arm._

_"Hey!" she exclaimed happily. "What's up, Kenny?" The boy looked at her with a sad expression, and so the girl deduced he wasn't in the best of moods, so she asked softly, "What's wrong?"_

_"I..." the boy started. He couldn't find the words to tell Dawn the truth, he thought she wouldn't believe him if he told her. "I'm leaving, Dawn."_

_"What!" the girl cried, her eyes widening. "Are you moving away?"_

_The boy did a sad smile, "Not exactly. I'm starting my Pokémon journey in three days."_

_"It's true! Your birthday is in three days!" Dawn suddenly remembered everything. Her friend was turning ten in three days, while it was still four months until her tenth birthday. "But...but...you should be excited, Kenny! You'll get to travel through Sinnoh, and beyond! You'll get to be a coordinator! Isn't that what you've always wanted?"_

_"I don't want to leave you and Barry here," Kenny said. "I think I won't be happy traveling alone."_

_"You will not be alone," Dawn assured. "You will have your Pokémon!"_

_Kenny sighed again as he leaned down, resting his back on the grass. He looked up to the sky and saw how a flock of Starly flew up. One of them, probably the youngest, found it harder to maintain its flight, as it gazed down and raced the wind, it propelled itself up to its mother, flying like an adult Starly, "Maybe it's time to bid the ground goodbye and take to the sky."_

_Dawn nodded, sitting by him. She wished the best for Kenny, but she couldn't help but feel miserable at the thought of him leaving. Then she suggested, "Let's make a promise."_

_The boy lifted himself up with his arms, "What promise?"_

_"Let's promise we will always be together, even when we're apart," Dawn said in a serious tone._

_Kenny nodded, "I promise."_

...

...

...

Five years later, Dawn looked through the Pokemon Center in search of something fun to do as she waited for her Pokemon to get healed by Nurse Joy. The Cherrygrove Contest had been her first one in Johto, and a really tough one. After her experiences in Sinnoh and Hoenn, she had decided to visit this region, where she hoped to finally win her first Great Festival. But what a great start: She had just won a miserable second place. Still, her Pokemon had done their best and they deserved some sleep. Having left all of them but Piplup in Sinnoh, Dawn had acquired new ones: she had a new Cyndaquil, a Pichu and a Togepi, and they had all done a great job in the contest. She would have to try harder in the Goldenrod Contest.

The girl sat down in a couch and took one of the magazines piled in a stack. She flipped it open, and read through the index. Nothing interesting...just gossip all over and over again. As if nothing else happened in the world but a celebrity's marriage. Who cared about a TV star's private life anyway. Not Dawn, that was for sure. She left the magazine where she had found it, and started tapping her chin with her pale fingers as she hummed a song she liked.

Her mind drifted away to her house, back in Twinleaf Town. Although she had been traveling for four years now, she still missed her mother a lot when she was out in a journey. It felt so sad for her to think she wouldn't see her for months...and then she thought about her friends Barry, Lucas and Kenny...how couldn't she miss them?

She had expected the latter to be traveling through Johto's Great Festival, but she hadn't seen him in the Cherrygrove contest. Maybe he had left to another region while she started in Johto...maybe their paths met again someday, or maybe they didn't.

Dawn gazed up at the clock, and saw it was two p.m. already.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "I'm late for lunch!"

The fourteen-year-old caught her bag and ran to the lunchroom, where she expected to get a nice meal. As she ran through the Pokemon Center hallways, she bumped into someone and fell down.

"What the heck!" she cried. She fixed her hat, gazing down, and then stood up again, to find Kenny's devilish grin.

"What's up, Dee-Dee?" he asked teasingly, ruffling his childhood friend's hair.

"Kenny!" Dawn exclaimed, and hugged the auburn-haired boy tightly. Kenny, who was all flushed from all this sudden burst of emotions, simply nodded and said, "Yeah...good to see you too."

They both stood looking at each other without saying a word. Kenny rubbed his arm awkwardly, and glanced from time to time to Dawn's big onyx eyes. He had been waiting so long to see her again...and now he couldn't even find words to chat. They hadn't seen each other for around three months, and now Kenny suddenly felt everything had turned more awkward. Dawn had changed, yet she remained the same sweet, innocent girl he had always known. He smiled at this. Only if she opened her eyes a little...

"I'm hungry," he stated, speaking up. "Let's go have lunch."

"Mm-kay..." Dawn answered absentmindedly, nodding slowly.

Kenny eyed her curiously, as if to see what was in her mind, but then shrugged and started walking to the lunchroom, where they each got a hamburger and French fries and sat down.

"So you're participating in the Cherrygrove Contest?" Kenny asked casually, wanting to start a conversation.

"What do you mean?" Dawn answered. "The contest was yesterday."

Kenny froze, "What? It can't be! Professor Elm told me the contest was taking place today afternoon!"

"I won the second place _yesterday_ afternoon," Dawn corrected.

Kenny smirked, "Dawn, Dawn, Dawn...second place? Only second place?"

The girl seemed offended, "What? Do you think you would have done better?"

"Of course I would."

"You're such a jerk!" Dawn exclaimed, and turned away. She knew he didn't mean anything he had said, but she still wanted to tease him for a while.

...

...

...

After lunch, they both decided they could have a walk through Cherrygrove's park. It was beautiful, full with flowers and bright green trees...they could easily see spring had arrived earlier to Johto, for it was only March and they were already feeling the summer's warmth. They wandered through the park together, watching as families passed by, kids played or couples sat together. Right then, Dawn spotted an ice-cream cart and started squealing.

"I want one! I want one!" she said as she looked through her pockets, in search of a coin. After a few seconds, she looked at Kenny, frowning.

"You forgot your wallet at the Pokemon Center," he laughed, without needing his old friend to say so.

Dawn looked at him amusingly, "How did you know?"

Kenny shrugged. "Intuition? Anyways, I can treat you to one."

"Really?" Dawn asked, smiling. "Thanks so much, Kenny! You're such a sweetheart!"

Kenny's cheeks flushed bright red as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "It's nothing."

They both walked to the ice cream cart, where a happy-looking man on his late fifties or early sixties looked at them, smiling.

"A strawberry cone, please," Kenny said.

"And a chocolate cone too!" Dawn chimed in happily.

"Very well then," the man said, nodding. He took an ice cream spoon and scooped a ball of strawberry ice cream on top of a waffle cone, and then repeated the process, this time with chocolate ice cream. As Kenny gave him the money, the man bade them goodbye and said, "Happy date!"

Both teenagers blushed bright red as they walked away from the ice cream cart and sat down in a bench. Dawn left her right hand on the bench, feeling the bench's cold steel, but suddenly felt Kenny's hand's warmth on hers. She eyed him, but the boy pretended not to notice and smiled as he started licking his ice cream.

...

...

...

"No!" Dawn exclaimed. She looked at her old friend, who stood in front of her, his hands stuffed right into her pockets. "No, you can't leave! We can both go to Azalea Town, and then go to Goldenrod..."

"I don't want to make you waste time, Dawn," Kenny said firmly. "I will go to Azalea while you go to Goldenrod. I...I don't know when, or how, but I promise you we will meet again soon."

Dawn looked out, clenching her fists. She knew she wouldn't be able to convince Kenny not to go, he was really stubborn and hard to convince. But those three days they had spent together had been so wonderful...it felt like they were back in their school days, when they had no worries about contests or rivals and there were only the two of them to play together. But no, they had grown up and they had to worry about their own stuff...it seemed like there wasn't a place for friends any more, which made Dawn even more furious.

Despite this, she looked up to him and smiled gently, "I understand."

Kenny smiled weakly. "I promise we'll meet soon. Pinky promise."

The boy offered his friend his pinkie, but instead of shaking it with her own pinkie, Dawn looked up to him and kissed his cheek. "Take care."

Kenny tried not to seem too blushed as he walked away, but, as Dawn lost her childhood friend's silhouette in the horizon, she smiled.

Because they knew they would be united by every force, wherever or whenever they were.

...

...

...

So that was everything. I hope you enjoyed it! :) Well, I need to say this story was inspired by the song _Never Knew I Needed_ by Ne-Yo. Oh, but the first flashback, when Dawn and Kenny are nine years old, has some references to _To The Sky_ by Owl City...maybe you'll find them!

And I know it's not the cheesiest thing ever, which honors me a lot. You can call it experience or whatever, but I have drawn some conclusions, and I've ended thinking Dawn and Kenny don't need the usual "I love you" and stuff because they already know :'D

Well, I'll be back with more soon!

Nikki~!


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